


another year

by Mitzuna



Series: Failed Plans AU [6]
Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bill and Dipper are friends, Bill works at the shack, Birthday Parties, Fluff, Human bill, M/M, Weirdmageddon never happened, failed plans AU, slight Billdip only, slight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-24
Updated: 2016-12-30
Packaged: 2018-09-11 20:54:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9022228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mitzuna/pseuds/Mitzuna
Summary: "So what, the celebration of the day you were emitted from a parental body, that you track each year? Meatsacks and their ridiculous customs.""Well if you say it like that, it does sound kinda strange."





	1. Preparations

**Author's Note:**

> Merry Christmas! Hope everyone has a great time!  
> So unlike my other stories in the fpAU, this one will have two chapters. I just couldn't find the time and later the motivation to finish the whole thing on time for Christmas. So I decided to split it and have the second part up on New Years. So, sorry everyone, you will have to wait till then for the rest.  
> Hope you enjoy reading nonetheless^^

For Dipper Pines it was a strange thought, how so many things could change in a year. Kids could grow into teens and enemies could become friends. Today it had been exactly one year. One year since they "defeated" their archnemesis (as much as you could have one at the tender age of 12) and bound him to a human body. Sometimes he still couldn't believe all the crazy things that happened on his first stay in Gravity Falls. The thrilling adventures he had, the amazing friends he found... even in his former adversary. Really, the brunet had come to terms with it a while ago, the strangeness of it, but knowing that it actually had been an entire year and how much had changed in that time kinda put things in a different perspective. 

He wondered if Bill was aware that 365 days had passed since he started to live with the Pines. It would certainly be better to not remind him of the fact and risk his anger, even if the two had bonded over the last weeks and had become good friends. Very good ones. The young brunet didn't make friends too easily, but with the blond it just came so easy to him. Aside from his sister, who would forever be his most cherished person, Bill had to be his closest friend and he was hoping it would stay that way for a long time despite all the problems evoked by Bill's background situation. Maybe with time they could be even closer...

Shaking his head to get rid of strange thoughts, Dipper decided it was time to get up and get his groggy brain in gear. Because with this one aniversary being near, there was also another one just around the corner.   
And he was hoping that this year their birthday would be better than the last.

~~~

Bill wasn't really surprised to see Mabel up and about in the early morning anymore, sparkling like the glitter she loved so much. While he himself had no problems getting mind and body to wake properly, the endless energy the girl exuded no matter the time was often unsettling. And comparing hers with the grumpy demeanor of the other Pines most mornings, it couldn't be a family thing after all. 

So while he certainly wasn't surprised by finding her at the kitchen table, greeting her absentmintly on his way to the fridge, it was a bit strange to see colored paper, glittering garlands and other crafting supplies lying around. The blond poured himself a glass of orange juice, before he tried to find a place to sit. But seeing all the chairs and even most of the floor around the table covered in stuff, that seemed a bit impossible. He considered asking her about this, but part of him feared the answer (and inevitably getting drawn into whatever this was) and another wondered if she would even notice his question. The girl was so absorbed in her work, she hadn't even answered his greeting yet. But he was curious. He could try at least.

"Shooting Star?"

Well, that got him nowhere. But he didn't feel like annoying the other first thing in the morning just to be told that her favourite boy band released a new album or that puppies had overturned the government last night or whatever it could be that got her this excited. Cause with all the pink and glitter and- was that unicorn blood? slightly intriguing- he decided he was better off not knowing.

"Morning, Mabel. Morning, Bill."

He turned around.

"Morning Pine Tree."

His friend was leaning on the doorframe, obviously impressed with he chaos his sister had unleashed on the kitchen table but with a knowing glint in his eyes. 

"You know what your sister is doing?"

Dipper hummed absentmindly and wandered over to one of the cupboards getting out bowls and cornflakes. When he gave the blond a look as if to ask if he wanted some too, the demon nodded.

"Party preparation, it seems like. She's kinda been planing for a while now, so I guess this is only the beginning."

Bill just raised an eyebrow at that and handed over the milk.

"Planning what?"

"Our birthday party."

Seeing as there was no place for the two boys to sit and eat comfortably, they migrated to the living room and sat on the ground, dragging the dinosaur skull to the middle of the room as a makeshift table. They both chewed silently for a while, Bill contemplating the answer, Dipper watching the other.

"So what, the celebration of the day you were emitted from a parental body, that you track each year? Meatsacks and their ridiculous customs."

"Well if you say it like that, it does sound kinda strange."

Tapping the spoon on his lower lip, Bill thought on how to formulate his question.

"Doesn't it just show you how you're one year nearer to your eventual death? It's just a number to measure the decay of your own personal sack of flesh and bones. To me it doesn't matter, my body is..."

He crincled his nose, remembering that at least for the moment he was in the same place as any other meatsack on this dumb planet. 

"...my body was incorruptible, although not unchanging. But that was dependent on my energy not on a tangible property."

Dipper was nodding along to his words, placing his bowl down after finishing, which reminded the blond that he should get to his own food it he didn't want the cereal to get soggy. 

"I guess one could argue that way. But really it's a matter of perspective with this. I mean, we have lived centuries, knowing that each day we're aging and at one point we're going to die. If we even get to have a natural death, cause really accidents and crime can't be predicted."

"Huh..."

"So on one hand it can be more of a celebration that we survived another year, even though we're, well, decaying in a sense. You can look back and think of what you've overcome, what you've accomplished. For me it's seeing how I've changed the last year, how all my adventures here in Gravity Falls made me another person."

Had Pine Tree changed much in the last year? Of course the teen was different, more open and more friendly with him, but Bill couldn't help but wonder if there was another Dipper Pines, a person he had never gotten to see. He may have seen certain events of the boy's past, but never enough to get a picture of the way he might have been before coming to Gravity Falls. Naturally the demon had seen how he had been at his arrival here, a socially awkward kid that would rather spend time curled up with a good book than go outside. But even before they had ever interacted, Pine Tree had found strength and a sense of adventure in this little strange town in Oregon. He had become this person right here.

A sudden thought crossed his mind, that whoever Pine Tree may have been in the past, Bill was... happy to know him right now. And even thought this sentiment confused him a bit, being so strangly okay with not knowing, he shrugged it off mentaly and decided to just go with it.

"And really, it's just one year closer to being an adult you know?"

"What have birthdays got to do with that?"

Bill put his empty bowl to the side and leaned back into a more comfortable position, while still facing the other teen head on.

"I guess it's more of a social construct than anything else. We asign certain, er... stages of life, I guess, with certain ages."

His confusion must have shown on his face, as Dipper tried to explain more.

"Well, for example last year when Mabel and I were still 12 we were just kids. But with our 13th birthday we became teens. Don't look so sceptical, it's a difference! It means we can do a lot on our own now, without supervison everytime. Yeah, nothing changed with ourselves suddenly from one day to another, but we still get trusted more and there are also certain things we weren't allowed to do before!"

"Uh huh."

"And then when we're 18 we are considered adults. It comes with a lot of dumb stuff, like taxes and such, but it also means independance and being responsible for your own life. In the end it's only a number and doesn't always reflect the real character of an individual person... but it's still, like, a big day to look forward to."

The demon couldn't help but wonder why all of these numbers were so early on in a meatsack's life if they could live up to, what, a hundred or so? But there was another thing he was more curious about.

"So why is your sister doing whatever in the kitchen? Is there a ritual to it, to collect power for another year of living? Is she sacrificing something?"

Although he couldn't help but wonder what kind of supernatural, deity or just something faking to be one, would accept the glittery blend Shooting Star was crafting.

"Oh, I believe she's making party decorations."

"For your birthday party?"

"Yeah. Normally it's celebrated with family and friends. There is cake, sometimes games, oh! Presents for the ones having birthday of course. With Mabel you can bet it will be colorful and sparkly, from garlands and confetti down to the food."

The blond hummed thoughfully.

"What are the presents like?"

"Well they can be something you wished for, hand-made or bought. Generally just something you hope will be nice and appreciated. Like books or clothes."

"Meh. That's boring."

Pine Tree just snorted and smiled at him.

"What would you wish for?"

He startled at that. What would he wish for? Weirdmageddon, power, the world at his feet. That was what he would have wanted only a year ago. And the desire for it was still there, for dominance over this dimension, but it didn't seem that... enticing anymore. A way out of this damnable meatsack, a connection to his power and the knowledge of the universe, were his next thoughts. But he was hesistant to tell that to the other, a mixture of old anger and strangly concern holding him back. 

"I don't really know. Never thought about it. But you know, maybe some simple things, an ink bleeding deer skull or a screaming bowtie, things like that?"

"Er... yeah, why not? Definetly not what I'd want, but to each their own."

Bill couldn't help but pout a bit. Only a tiny bit. Those were awesome ideas and no one could tell him otherwise. But he guessed he could see how Pine Tree would see it a bit different than him. After all he still had his problems with Arana, his pet lynx spider even though she was nothing but a sweetheart (I might have been a bit problematic when she tried to build a web-nest in Dipper's hair). So, yeah, something boring sounded way more like the brown-haired teen.

"Well, you don't know what you're missing."

~~~

As calm as the morning had started, it hadn't stayed so for long. It was summer after all, the high season or "high time to swindle some people out of their money" as Fez sometimes liked to call it. Bill really hadn't gotten any time to think more about this morning's talk but as the last tourists trickled out of the Shack, he saw himself confronted with the topic again.

"... that's a lot of stuff."

By Shooting Star's armada of party decoration. The kitchen had become her personal little crafting war zone. Garlands were already strung up all over the place, most likely to let the painted details dry. In the windowsill were enough party hats to equip the entire town (just how many people did the girl expect to show up?). There were big, big buckets full of confetti, apparently sorted according to color and "glitteryness". Piles of cards and... flyers? were stacked on the kitchen counter and the girls was still working on more. A blank banner was lying around, too, buckets of paint ready to give it some life.

"I guess we'll get dinner from town today, huh?"

"Wah? Oh, hey Bill! Hey, come over and hold that for me please?"

Kinda perplexed that the girl even noticed him there (she had been ignoring the world around her for most of the day, at some point he might have lead a few tour kids to the door and showed them the "child of glitter and sugar, working through the onholy rush of fairy dust"), he obeyed wordlessly. That was a mistake. In less than five seconds, the brown-haired teen had spread his arms and hung another set of freshly painted cardboard all over them, comanding him to stand still or face her wrath. 

"I was thinking of stacking them like a card house, but what if it broke down! No! This better!"

"You're kinda excited."

"Oh hush you! You only celebrate your 14th birthday once in your lifetime!"

Bill rolled his eyes, of course.

"But there's nothing special about this one, right? Nothing like reaching the next passage in your puny human life or getting permission to get a, what was it? Drinking licence? Something like that?"

"Uh, driver's licence, I think? Though that sounds intoxicating, just imagine taking drinking lessons! Theory on how to mix 'em, praxis on how to knock 'em!"

"Oh yeah, no idea what you're talking about."

The girl just shrugged and started on the next batch. The demon wrinkled his nose, naturally it was itching just when he couldn't move his hand to scratch it. He wasn't even waiting for an answer anymore, rather debating how long it would take for the paint to dry so he could flee from the kitchen and escape his card-hanger duty, when she started talking again.

"It doesn't matter, I still want this year to be great, you know? Yeah, 13 to 14 is nothing really special, but last year..."

She shot him a small glance, visibly considering on her words.

"Last year was just bad. And it's not just the whole "all powerful triangle turned human coming to live with us and moping around most of the time", nope."

A heavy sigh left her lips, her face so uncharacteristically serious that it gave the blond pause. 

"We were growing apart slowly, Dipper and I. He had Ford and I had my friends and we just spend less time together and then... Then you know what happened. With the apprenticeship offer. And after."

Of course he knew what happened.

"I should be happy now! I was so relieved when Dipper decided to come back with me in the end, but... I can't help but think sometimes, it's just another thing he gave up for me, isn't it? It's scary how glad I am still, although it's terribly selfish in the end."

Bill just stared at her. He knew if Pine Tree was here, the boy would deny it, would tell her that he would never regret it all, that it was the best thing to do, not just for her but him as well. And they both knew that both twins were right in their own, that Dipper may have made the right choice in one way but might have missed a big chance as well. 

"We're great now! Best buddies, great amigos, mystery twins forever! And it helps, a lot. But at the same time I feel like it changed us. Maybe in good ways, maybe in bad ways. Don't know. But Dipper grew up through it. Got all mature and stuff and I like to tease him for it more often than not!"

She smiled at him and now she looked more like her normal self. Sparkly. Happy. Inspiring.

"But I guess it's my duty as the alpha twin to remind my litle brobro that we're still teens. To have fun. So I want this year to be great! For him, for us."

Later, as he was lying awake in bed, after all residents had successfully cleared part of the kitchen and had some pizza together for dinner, he just thought that he could understand her notion. Wanting to do their best to see Dipper happy.

~~~

"Soo, when is this delivery anniversary of yours, anyway?" 

Enthusisastically Shooting Star tried to answer him. As she had just stuffed an entire pancake into her mouth, her words were nowhere near comprehensible and her gestures didn't really make sense (or maybe that was just her choking and not trying to tell him something). So Bill turned to Pine Tree instead, who was at least chewing and swallowing his food before responding.

"It's the day after tomorrow."

Bill blinked.

"Already, huh."

"It's gotta be awesome! I got all the decorations ready and Grunkle Stan already agreed to close the Shack for the day and let us use the party room!"

A indignant voice from the other room was heard.

"I did no such thing!"

In response to the arched eyebrows of the boys she just scratched her head and shrugged.

"It's a work in progress. Or a bribe in progress. I'm still on it."

"I'm not even gonna try, I'm sure you can handle it."

"Of course I can, Dipdop!"

"Well, if there's anything..."

"Oh, don't worry Dippinsauce, I'll ask if worse comes to worse. Candy and Grenda wanna come tomorrow to help, too. We'll get everything ready in advance so we have the whole day to party! You know I have lots of things planned, like..."

At some point the blond blocked her voice out, preoccupied with other thoughts. He had kinda expected that the twins' birthday was still a few days away. Shooting Star had made such a big deal of it, but then again she was really fast in preparing all the glitter stuff and apparently half of Gravity Falls had already known of it beforehand (a few of the townsfolk had asked him in the shop and taken a few flyers with them. Rumor had spread in no time at all). So only today and tomorrow before...

"Hey, brat! Help me with this, would you?"

Broken from his trance, but not entirely free from his musings, he didn't even complain. Just put his empty dish in the sink and followed Fez out. 

"Here, I need you to take these boxes into the storage."

Looking around, Bill realized that they were standing inside the Shack's party room. A few cardboard boxes were standing around, various clutter already piled into them. He grinned.

"Could need a good dusting, too. So you can start on that after."

"Shooting Star doesn't even need to bribe you."

The old man turned around, most likely so the blond couldn't see the fond look in his eyes.

"Don't know what you're talking about."

"Sure."

He wondered...

"Hey, Fez."

"Hm?"

"You meatsacks use money to pay for things..."

Determined he walked around the man to stare into the geezer's eyes. He made a decision.

"I need money."

"Do I look like a piggy bank?"

Hastily Stanford pushed the few dollar notes back into his sleeve, where they had slid out when he threw his arms forward. Bill only stared at him harder, clearly showing his scepsis.

"Forget it, the deal was you living here. No money!"

"I just need a bit. Only once! Isn't it illegal to let a... a junior work here without payment!"

The man just stared at him for a while.

"You mean... a minor, or what?"

"Whatever! That!"

"Not like you even exist on any paper! In this sense you're illegal!"

He threw his arms in the air.

"Whatever!"

"What do you even need it for!?"

With that it got silent. Bill bristled with agitation, but stayed silent. Seems Fez had found a sore point.

"You get food, you get a place to sleep. You have clothes."

"Terrible ones."

"Beggars can't be choosers. What do you want?"

Silence again. It was obvious that the demon didn't want to tell and Stanley Pines didn't have the patience to needle him.

"Can't be too important then."

Fez turned to leave.

"Wait!"

He didn't.

"I... I need a present for Pine Tree, okay?"

The old man was nearly out the door before he stopped, turned around and looked at him. Bill couldn't read his expression.

"A present... for Dipper?"

Feeling his face burning, the blond didn't look the other in the eye and nodded.

"And for Shooting Star..."

He added as an afterthought, surely it would seem strange to just give something to one twin but not the other.

"... I... what would you even buy them? And when? Don't think I would let you off work for that."

Bill started nibbling his lip. Of course he had thought of it but...

"I don't know yet. You meatsacks are way too sensitive about a lot of things."

It was the truth, even it not the right reason. He certainly had no plan on what to get Pine Tree. Oh, he had ideas. But those would work only if he still had the majority of his powers. With the amount he had stored at the moment (which wasn't much, incidentally everytime he had some in store, something happened that let him lose it) he could summon some inferior creatures. Killing or paralyzing them not included. He couldn't even materialize a forever screaming head, although he had already ruled that option out as a gift. The demon had hoped that he could just run around town and find something. But what? Books? He didn't know any the boy would want at the moment and reading a selection to find a good one would take too long. Clothes? He could surely improve Pine Trees style (cause let's be honest, he could use some variety in his wardrobe) but for that he couldn't just get one or two items, which would surely get pricey (especially with money he didn't even have yet!). Sweets? They wouldn't survive long considering Shooting Star's sweet tooth and Pine Tree would surely give her a part of his share. And he didn't just want to give something temporary, but something that would be with the brown-haired boy for a long time... Something permanent.

"Why don't you just make something?"

"Huh?"

Make something?

"Like what?"

"How would I know? Don't draw them something, I already know how shitty you are with that."

Was that a jab at his dust pictures? Those had been beautiful! Well, they had been okay at least, but Fez was right, he wanted something better.

"I could build them something. Like I did those exhibits?"

"Stop right there. No taking my supplies here! And how would they even transport whatever when they go home?"

Stingy old man. But he had a point, it would have to be something small that the twins could carry. And also it wouldn't have been practical at all, what could one even do with a fake monster?

"Then what else?"

Fez looked at him, contemplating. 

"I could show you something. Would be cheap, would be just fast enought. We have everything here."

"Really?"

Could he hope? He wasn't sure with the smug look the geezer was giving him. Why did this feel like a bad idea.

"Sure! This evening, if you work your ass off today. Running your tours, cleaning this room. Don't know if I have time for you otherwise. Or maybe I will be too tired in the evening, if I have all these extra things to do."

Bill stared at him disbelieving.

"Tit for tat, demon brat. Better get on with it."

The blond cursed the other silently. This better be worth it!


	2. Birthday Mornings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Decided to post it already, cause really, why wait if it's finished?

His day had been terrible. Even though tours hadn't been any more taxing than normal, having to clean the party room at the same time had him positively exhausted. Every free minute was spend mopping and dusting and taking out trash and much more. It was only sheer determination that held his focus on his tasks, otherwise he would have resigned early on in the beginning. In the end he didn't know how he made it without drifting off.

"Kid, right now I wonder why you couldn't do that in the beginning. When we searched for a job for you."

"Don't count on me doing this again. Ever."

The blond felt sweaty and dusty, a flush still on his cheeks from running around the shack. Finally, after what felt like eons, tours were over, the shop closed and Fez had checked his work. And had grudgingly admitted it to be "satisfactory, for one evening" (obviously old man talk for a job done wonderfully, thank you very much!). Really, all he wanted was a bath and to fall into his bed. 

"Well, guess I have to show you after all. Or something."

Ah, right he couldn't relax, yet. He still didn't know what Fez had in mind for his present for Pine Tree. Bill blinked tiredly at the older man. Was it only him or did that sound like a kinda dumb idea in hindsight.

"Follow me."

Stretching a bit and lightly massaging his sore shoulders, the demon went after the other. He only gave a short wave when the twins asked them where they were going, Fez already explaining how they had some "shack business" to handle and would join them later for dinner. Shooting Star didn't seem to mind, just nodding and readily getting back into her plans for the party. Pine Tree's gaze followed them longer, only focusing back on his sister's drawn and spoken explanation after he couldn't see the pair anymore. 

Bill didn't really care much about it, yawning a bit. Trotting behind the other he tried to think of all the posible presents Fez could have in mind. It surely wouldn't be anything to valuable, as the old geezer would have tried to get profit from it. I couldn't be anything too supernatural, that was more Sixer's thing. What could it be? When they finally stopped at their destination and he looked around, he began to wonder. They were standing in the middle of the stock room, where all the parts for exhibition samples were stored. Hadn't they agree that an exhibit wouldn't work? Just as he wanted to angrily ask Fez what they were doing here, the man opened a cupboard that Bill had never bothered checking out. Curious, he went over to see what the other had hidden there. Inside were a lot of different tools. They looked like chisels in various sizes with differently formed ends, all with wooden handles. He took one and tested the edge. They were fairly sharp.

"You'll be working with this."

While he had been occupied with looking through the different chisels, Fez had gone and gotten different wooden blocks, which he now placed on the table in front of Bill. Blinking confusedly, the blond met the old man's eyes.

"Welcome to wood carving 101, demon brat."

~~~

It was late, but Bill hoped Shooting Star was still awake as he knocked on her door. After revealing what the Man of Mystery's great idea was, the demon felt grumpy and excited at the same time. He would never admit it, but the he liked the idea. Creating something for Pine Tree with his own two hands, the possiblities on what to make uncountable. It was kinda what he had been looking for, something personal and permanent. So while he grumbled and lightly complained, he wanted to get into it with zeal. But then "training" began.

Fez had planned to start on something simple, so his first assignment had been to carve a fish. A fish! Bill had then complained in earnest. How would a dumb fish be a suitable gift for Pine Tree?

"Brat, shut your mouth. It's not supposed to be your gift. It's just for me to show you the basics, after this you can do whatever stupid thing you want. Not that I even want to know whatever it will be."

So grudgingly Bill had complied. And regretted ever thinking this a good idea. While Fez had been surprisingly helpful (never going to admit that either), there was a lot more to it than he would have thought. It had started relativly simple, with explanations on which wood worked best and what the different carving knives were best used for. Next were first tries to make gouges in a wooden block, where he had been shown how to hold the tools and how much strength it took to make a furrow. Only then had they moved on to trying to make their first figure, the fish. Again starting easy, marking where to carve away the wood, starting to chisel the excess away. Trying to make it 3-dimensional had been kinda hard for Bill and taken him a while, but he had managed somehow. It had taken a lot of turning the wood and a lot of imagination. At one point the two of them had fallen into an amicable silence and when the blond had looked over to the other, there had been a slight smile on the man's face, as if he was remembering something nice.

Eventually, with a lot of work and quite some cuts on his fingers, he had finished his fish. And he had to admit, he was proud of it.

"Not too shabby, brat. Could do with less blood stains on it, but yeah for a first try..."

Nibbling his lip, he saw by then brown stains on the fomerly bright lime wood, where a nick on his pointer finger had soiled the wood. 

"Can't you wash if off the wood after?"

Fez grunted as he got up from the stool he had been sitting on, waiting for his... student? to finish.

"Afraid not. You'll have to try to avoid it entirely."

That had been hours ago. The old man had excused himself shortly after, while the blond had stayed behind to work some more. He had been hesistant to carve anything resembling a present already, first wanting to try the different techniques a bit more. So when he had been called for dinner, he had scarfed it down in record time and excused himself to do more figurines. Only when his eyes started to burn and an octupus and a griffin had joined his fish, did he notice the time. Nearly midnight. Sighing he had decided to call it a day. At least he was fairly sure of the process now, only thing he still needed was an idea for the real presents. Bending and stretching his fingers he noticed a few new cuts, one of the bigger ones still sluggishly bleeding. Scrutinising his wooden creatures he also saw a few blood stains again and cursed lightly under his breath. He needed to do something about that.

"Huh, Bill? What is it?"

The answer came to him when he tried to wash the blood off his hands in the kitchen sink.

"Hey Shooting Star, do you have some bandages for me?"

"What? Why?"

With wide eyes the girl gave him a once-over, stopping on his fingers.

"What happened?"

"Can't tell, it's a secret. Just need something to absorb the blood."

"What you need are some sparkly band-aids, my friend! Wait a minute!"

She returned shortly with an assortment of plasters in different sizes and colours, although all were glittering in the low light and some even had animals and rainbows on them.

"Any color you want?"

"You have yellow?"

The brunette laughed and picked a few out of her box.

"Should have seen that coming."

She helped him stick them onto the different injuries, even some that had already stopped bleeding. Soon his fingers were nearly covered in band-aid, giraffes and birds and yellow covering the red.

"That should do. They should also help prevent cuts, it seems like your always cutting yourself in the same areas."

"Thanks."

He could see in her eyes that she was curious, nearly bursting with the want to ask. All the same she didn't utter a word, which he was grateful for.

"Good night, Shooting Star. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Night, Bill. Good luck with whatever you're doing."

He waved at her and turned around when she closed her door. On the stairs he suddenly stopped and stared into space.

"Good luck, huh? I guess I know what to do for Pine Tree now."

Grinning he made his way to his room, getting ready for sleep. He finally had a plan, now he only had to make it real.

~~~

Their birthday was only one day away and Mabel was practically going crazy. Of course she talked their grumpy great uncle into surrendering a whole day and the party room for their celebration with only the promise of a week's worth of cooking and housework in exchange (that he would have to help with, too). So with that in mind his sister had called Candy and Grenda over to help her decorate. And while she had the time of her life, hanging garlands, setting up tables and blowing up balloons, Dipper had to work. Cause of course Grunkle Stan was nowhere near okay with losing two free workers at the same time.

"You better work twice as much to make up for it!"

Yeah, right. He would have if there had been enough customers. As it was the day had been relativly calm. There had been quite some people but between tours with his great uncle and Bill the masses had cleared quickly and left a decent amount of money behind in exchange for overpriced knick-knacks. Dipper was just ringing up the purchases of an older lady when Stan came over.

"That's the last tour of today."

Dipper blinked at him.

"Ah, yes?"

The old man grunted and scratched his belly.

"You..."

He looked around.

"You can leave it to me. Not like there's anything happening anymore."

The boy smiled, trying to choke down a laugh.

"Thanks Grunkle Stan."

"Yeah, yeah. Just go before I change my mind."

Dipper nodded, before standing up and shaking his left leg. Sitting behind the counter on an old wooden chair was not very comfortable after a while. Winding through the last tourists occupying the shop right now, he stopped in the doorway. 

"Hey, Grunkle Stan? If that's the last tour, where is Bill?"

"The brat? How should I know? He left after his last tour."

Frowning a bit, Dipper thanked him and turned around to leave in the direction of the party room. It wasn't like his friend to just disappear after his shift. Normally he came in with his last group, keeping the brunet company and often answering questions on different supernaturals if asked (whether seriously if the inquirer was Dipper himself or with make-believe for anyone else was no matter). But today the blond had been distracted, even during breaks keeping to himself and muttering under his breath. To be honest this had already started early this morning, when instead of sitting with the brown-haired to eat their breakfast cereal, he had grabbed a bowl and excused himself. Dipper hadn't really thought too much of it when the boy had been quiet and rushed the last evening, Bill was just sometimes a bit moody and reacted differently without reason. But now he was kinda beginning to worry. But everyting had been okay, right? 

Shaking his head, he decided to check out the party room. For one he could ask his sister if she needed any help and maybe the blond had just been roped into decorating with the girls. And if not Dipper could ask his sister if she noticed anything and look for the wayward demon afterwards.

With that in mind he stepped into the room and got attacked by glitter.

Not literally, thank goodness.

"Wow."

The party room looked... sparkly. Bright. Balloons in all colors of the rainbow were floating high above, ribbons and cards tied to them. Between all the balloons was a giant disco ball hanging from the ceiling, lazily spinning and reflecting all over. A row of tables lined every wall, white tablecloth with artistic paint splatters and silver glitter lying on them. In the middle of the room was a giant cotton cloth and around it three girls were sitting on their heels with paintbrushes in hand. A giant "Happy 14th birthday!!!" was already on it so the three were mostly adding some pictures of presents, suns and flowers to it.

"Dipdop!"

Noticing her brother, Mabel jumped up and ran over to him. Still gaping at the room he was barely prepared for her tackle hug, but still caught himself before they could fall over. In the background Candy and Grenda shouted their own greetings.

"What do you think? Does it look bedazzled enough, yet?"

"It looks wonderful. But if I know you right, you still have a lot planned, right?"

The girl grinned at him, humming a happy tune.

"Of course I have! But most of that has to do with kitchen stuff, making jello, baking some cupcakes and the like. Mabel Juice! Lots of it and also normal punch for wimps like you!"

"Hey! I mean even Bill avoids it and that means something if a demon of dreams and nightmares avoids your... concoction."

They both shuddered at the thougth of what had happened when the blond had tried Mabel's drink the first and only time. It had been funny in the beginning but horror in the end. They all agreed to never talk about it.

"Don't even mention it again, please for the love of puppies and rainbows. But yeah, nearly finished with decoration! Soos wants to come over later to set up his DJ table so last thing to do is the banner here."

"So... nothing for me to do then?"

Mabel furrowed her brows and looked around. They both knew that Dipper wasn't the most adept in the kitchen, so while he could make some easy things and could, per se, survive on his own, anything more complex than pasta with sauce gave him troubles. And nothing Mabel had planned for the party would be quite that simple. The boy could try and help them, but really with her two friends already volunteering (and knowing that they had way more experience and therefore right to occupy the kitchen) left them with barely any space in the Shack's kitchen. 

"Don't think so broseph. We'll be done shortly and after we wanted to start in the kitchen."

She patted his shoulders and smiled at him.

"But hey, that just means you can sit back and relax today! Grab Bill and do some boy things or whatever."

"Well, I would but... did you notice anything strange about Bill? I might just be imagining things but he kinda seemed to avoid everyone today."

"Hmm... Well he was fast to leave this morning. But I bet it's nothing, maybe he just wants a bit of time for himself?"

Dipper sighed. He had been thinking of that, too, but still couldn't help but worry.

"Or maybe he's working on something? He came to me with some cuts yesterday..."

"I saw the band-aids this morning, but he didn't really want to tell me anything."

"Maybe it's a surprise!"

"You think?"

Mabel nodded at him, squeezing his shoulders in reassurance. 

"I'm sure it's nothing serious. You could ask him, but if it's really a surprise maybe don't prod him too much."

With a chuckle and slightly better mood, he returned his sister's toothy grin.

"Will do, sisteroo."

~~~~

Bill had been working all day. After inspiration struck last night, he would have loved to start immediately after sleeping. But althought tomorrow the shack would be closed, today was a normal work day and of course Fez was working him to the bone. It didn't help that now of all times parents with small children decided to visit the local mystery exhibition and most of the tours were stuck on him. So naturally he hadn't gotten the time for preparing his presents until the last customers were gone. That had been a few hours ago.

He had first started on Pine Tree's, really getting into it. But looking at his hands and seeing the different yellow plasters all over them, he remembered that he would need something for the bubbly girl, too. So with reluctance, he sat his big project aside and got a smaller block of wood, trying to think of something fitting. And he was still sitting, staring contemplatively into nothing when someone knocked on the door.

"Bill, are you in there?"

Eyes widening, he jumped up and ran to the door. For now the boy wouldn't recognize what he had planned to make, but still it would be better if he didn't even see what he was working on.

"Wait Pine Tree!"

With lightning speed had he opened the door, slipped out and slammed it behind him. The brunet just blinked at him, before smiling just the tiniest bit.

"Ah, hey. I was... just wondering where you were. You okay?"

The demon fidgeted. As much as he enjoyed the other's company, it was the last thing he wanted right now.

"Peachy."

"Oh okay... Are you busy?"

"Yes."

The boy seemed a bit taken aback with how brusque the other was. Not that Bill even noticed, wriggling in place and looking over his shoulder every few seconds as if to check that nothing could be seen.

"I... see. Do you want company? If you want I-"

"It's none of your business."

Pine Tree stared at him wide-eyed, but the blond was too occupied with his nervous thoughts to see. If he had looked at the other, he might have seen the hurt blooming across his face and would have apologized immediately. As it was, he avoided the other's brown eyes, irrationally fearing the boy could see right trough what he was planning.

"I... okay? Will I see you later?"

"Don't know."

They stood a few moments in silence, neither really looking at the other and both lost in their own heads. Finally after what seemed an eternity, the brown-haired took a step back.

"Then I'll... leave you to your things."

Nodding, not even making a sound to show he heard, Bill vanished behind the door. Even though he didn't slam it shut, the click of the wood sealing shut echoed in the hallway. For the rest of the day he wasn't disturbed again.

~~~

The first sunbeams were tickling his nose, but it was the dust that had him sneezing. Groggily the blond looked around, wondering why his room looked so different until he remembered where he was. Groaning he stretched his body, a crick in his neck making him whimper. At least his fingers were no longer cramping, as they had done a lot last night, but the small bit of magic he had sacrificed to keep them limber was worth it. With pride glowing in his chest he looked at his finished presents: a small round pendant no bigger than his palm for Shooting Star and a two wooden figures, both no bigger than his entire hand sitting on the desk before him. Analyzing them with a critical eye, he took one of the finer carving knives to emphasize some small details on both works, but he had finished them sometime last night already and was really only nitpicking now.

Finally deeming his work done, he looked around the room to find anything to temporarily hide his presents. By the light coming trough the single dirty window, he could tell that he was most likely the last one to get up, so the demon wanted to hide his work pieces before he could give them to their respective owners. When he was in the kitchen with Shooting Star, playing drying rack for her birthday cards, she had told him some more on birthday "traditions" and part of them was apparently hiding the presents in colorful paper and ribbons. Both of which he didn't have. Digging through some cupboards and the big storage closet in the corner, he found some newspaper and twine. Not really the best to work with, but it would do, he believed. He also took some time to thread a bit of the softer string trough the hole in Shooting Star's pendant, so she could wear it already if she wanted. 

Keeping the presents in the crook of his arm he made his way to his room. A change of clothes would do him good and after that he could look into getting some food. The demon didn't even have to hurry, after all there was no work today, only relaxation for him and a birthday party for the twins. Straightening his new shirt and picking up the wrapped carvings, he went to the kitchen, finding Shooting Star sitting at the table, grinning like a maniac already. Looking at the glass filled with a shimery purple drink, he could guess what made her even more hyper than she was the last days. The girl noticed him before he even set foot into the room.

"Hey Bill! A wonderful super-duper good morning!"

Only slightly taken aback, he nodded to her.

"Morning Shooting Star. And... Congratulations on being one year nearer to your deadline, I guess."

Seemingly not pertubed by his lackluster good wishes, the girl beamed at him.

"Thank you! I can't wait for everyone to get here for the party! The Grunkles went out to get some last supplies and Dipper..."

Her smile fell slightly before she visibly reigned herself in.

"He's still in our room. For some reason he wasn't too happy this morning."

"I'm sure he'll get there."

When her lips still seemed to be held in position through force instead of real feeling, he tried to change tracks.

"You know, I'll try and talk to him. I'm sure it's nothing, maybe just excitement? Not enough sleep?"

Her face relaxed a bit, the upturn of the girl's lips now more natural.

"Thanks, Bill. You know for that you can even get one of the cupcakes already."

He shuddered. Memories of a certain joke-cupcake came to mind. Even though he knew that this time the filling wouldn't be as horrible (after all she wouldn't want to turn the whole town against her, right?) he didn't know if the amount of sugar and most likely glitter in these baked goods was any better.

"Er, I'll pass. Later, definetly later. Also..."

He tossed the smaller of the wrapped presents at her.

"For you."

With good reflexes and sparkling eyes the brunette caught the package before it could hit her chest and turned it in her hands.

"Thanks amigo! Do you mind if I open it already? I mean, I can wait..."

Bill only raised an eye brow.

"Go ahead."

In seconds newspaper shreds were all over the table, the content laid bare in front of them. Mabel raised the pendant, it was circular in shape with a small hole where he put the thread through. The girl cupped it in one hand gazing at the detailed work on the surface. On it was the figure of a rather slender bird with long tail feathers that curled around the lower edge of the wood. It's wings were slightly spread and the space left bare of the majestic creature had been filled with tongues of flames. Speechless the girl turned the wood in the light.

"Wow."

"It's a phoenix."

"The fire bird, right?"

"Yes. Burning at death, it arises again from it's ashes. It's often associated with the sun, with time and renewal. I found it fitting."

"How?"

Coming to stand beside her and tracing a finger over the furrows, he tried to find the words.

"I was thinking of making it a unicorn first, symbol of purity and magic, sometimes of luck. But really, those guys are dumb at the best of times and conceited at the worst."

"You tell me, buddy."

"So really, not fitting. And I guess it's more of a... motivation with the phoenix than really a comparision. New beginnings, a cicle starting again. I had to think of how you're always so motivated and energetic, lifting anyone's spirit, family or friends. You sometimes have darker moments, but you always get through."

Taking the pendant from her hands, he slipped it over her head and let it settle around her neck.

"I thought it would be a reminder, that although sometimes things are hard, you can pick yourself up and start anew. Anytime."

Shooting Star had listened to his explanation with rapture, not uttering a single sound. Now she looked up at him with glistening eyes and before he could even try to apologize she flung herself at him.

"Thank you so much. I... that is really thoughtful of you."

Not really knowing what to do with her, the demon just patted her head and back a bit. When that didn't help after a while, he tried to wind himself from her arms.

"Er... Shooting Star?"

"Nope, at least five minutes! To show my graditude! You can go to Dipper after!"

Sighing, he accepted his fate.

~~~

Knocking lightly on the door, Bill hoped his friend was not in too bad a mood. 

"Pine Tree? Hey, Pine Tree."

He thought he heard shuffling on the other side of the door, but nobody called back. Waiting only for a few seconds more, the blond opened the door slowly to give the other enough time to protest. When again nothing was heard, he stepped into the room, closing the door behind him. The boy in question was sitting on his bed, the blanket drawn tight around him and pulled over his head, so half his face was in shadows. The blond sat down beside his friend, before leaning over to look into his eyes. The brown-haired boy met his shortly before focusing on the wall ahead.

"Hey there. Not feeling well?"

All he got was a shrug. Frowning, he tried to think of ways to cheer the other up.

"You know, Shooting Star made cupcakes and lots of other stuff. Entirely too sugary for a normal human, but delicious nonetheless. I think so. Didn't try one, yet. Might not be the best breakfast. Do you want one?"

A sigh was heard.

"I just need a minute, Bill. Don't worry, I'm sure I'll be up to the party soon."

"Trying to motivate yourself here? Alone in this room?"

He only got a short nod.

"Well, I'll keep you company til then. Or you could tell me what's going on in that head of yours, heard that's good for meatsacks, to talk it out or something."

Silence again. The blond leaned back a bit to get more comfortable, thinking he would spend quite some time waiting. And so they sat there. Until...

"Am I a nuisance?"

"Huh?" 

Suprised by the question, he tried to once more see the other's face. But the boy had curled into himself, hiding underneath the blanket.

"Why... Why would you think that?"

"Sometimes I wonder why you hang out with me..."

Were did that come from? The blond had never seen the other this insecure, at least since he had come to live in the shack. A few days ago everything had been normal, so something must have happened recently. Bill tried to remember his last interactions with the boy, breakfast yesterday, later when Pine Tree came to him... Thinking of it now, he realized he had been pretty harsh with the boy.

"Is this because of yesterday? When you looked for me?"

Silence. Answer enough. Bill raked a hand through his hair.

"I didn't mean anything by it! I was... I was just doing something and..."

"I know that! I know that, okay? You were working on something and didn't want me to see, that's okay."

He didn't say it out loud, but the demon wondered a bit what the problem was then.

"It's just... I get lost in my head sometimes. I think too much and I doubt and... I guess yesterday it just got bad okay? Mabel was busy and I surely didn't want to get her down with my mood and you had something to do, too and..."

The brunet relaxed, just the tiniest bit and turned until Bill could see his face. He tried to smile, but his brown eyes betrayed that it was forced.

"Please, just give me a bit, yeah? I'm sure I'll be better soon. You can wait downstairs if you want."

Huffing, the blond took matters into his own hands and pulled the boy into a fierce hug, pressing his face into the fluffy brown hair.

"You think I'll leave you here alone? Think again."

Waiting a bit for the other to relax, he tried to think of how to formulate what he wanted to say.

"So first of all, I guess I should... apologize. I really didn't mean it that way. I was just panicing, cause I wanted to keep this thing a secret and yeah. So... sorry."

He tightened the hug and was squeezed in return.

"Also I don't think you are a nuisance. Or annoying or anything. I like being around you, okay? And I hope you realize that, cause really why would I even talk to you if I didn't want to? You know me, Pine Tree, I wouldn't hesistate to ignore dumb stuff or tell you if I had a complaint. I do that anyway, no matter with whom. Like you know what's annoying? Birds, I tell you. Dumb feathered things, being awake way too early, being too cheery! And terrible with criticism, cause they still haven't stopped!"

Well, that was a bit dumb, but hey, it got Pine Tree chuckling, so worth it. Following an impulse he pressed his lips to the fluffy hair of the boy once, just shortly. Good thing the other couldn't see him blushing in that position.

"And generally I'm bad with critisicm, too. But, Pine Tree, if you ever feel like I did something dumb again, you can tell me. I promise I won't set you on fire or anything."

"If you ever do, you'll have to face the wrath of Mabel. Glitter and sugar, you know."

"Wouldn't dream of it."

Both fell silent but this time it was comfortable. Bill closed his eyes and enjoyed the moment, relieved that his friend seemed to feel better. It was strange to see the other insecure for once, in the year he had been here it was always him unsure of his place and of what he was doing. But Pine Tree was still a teen after all, still human with doubts and flaws. He felt that this had brought them together once more. The boy in his arms let out a heavy sight, before straightening, dispelling their hug but not breaking their contact all together. The blanket had fallen off his head, so his smile, a true smile, could be seen clearly.

"Thank you, Bill."

The blond scratched his head.

"No problem. Oh, you should better thank me for your present! Wait... here!"

The brunet fumbled a bit with the package, barely catching it in surprise. In contrast to his sister he took more care with opening it, tugging off the twine and folding back the newspaper. 

"What are they?"

In his lap were two wooden statues of two similar creatures. They looked somewhat like lions but strange, not really a realistic depiction. They both had opened maws and a pair of wings, although they were not sat upon the backs but on the left and right side of their chest, folded near the body. The biggest difference between the two was that one of them had a pair of horns and slightly more delicate feautures.

"They look Chinese."

"They are. They are known as Pixiu, mythical creatures associated with luck and good fortune. The Pi-Ya,.."

Here he gestured to the version with two horns. 

"the female creature is said to fend of evil and help with bad luck. The other, the male Tian Lu,.."

Now he pointed to the hornless one.

"helps with gathering riches, depending on some nuances it can be riches in wealth or in knowledge. I went more with the knowledge version here. They are loyal creatures, that protect their master and and repel supernatural forces."

"Wow." 

Pine Tree looked at them with awe, tracing different details especially in the wings. While they didn't look like any creature he had seen in his life, they were striking as if they could blink their eyes and move any minute.

"So that was what you were working on? They look great."

"Of course they do, I did my best after all! And I'll help you with the placement, there are some details to consider there."

For now carefully wrapping them once more in the newspaper and putting them on the nightstand, the brunette stood up and stretched. 

"Seems I should get up now, huh?"

Smiling he gave his friend a hand and pulled the blond up.

"I'll be down real soon, can you ask Mabel if maybe she has something normal to eat today?"

"Wouldn't count on it, but will do."

Bill turned to leave, but a tugging on his sleeve made him stop. The brunet threw his arms around him, leaning forward and pressing his lips on the other's cheek. Stepping back, he grinned with a slight blush.

"Thanks again."

The blond blinked, feeling heat on his own face but returning the smile.

"You're welcome. Happy birthday, Pine Tree."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some extra infos, for curios souls  
> I was contemplating a few different creatures for Dipper at first. But I just love picking things I have never heard of before in hopes that I can surprise others as well. So no Leprechaun, the Zashiki Warashi didn't really fit and while the Unicorn does sometimes symbolize luck, yeah we know they're jerks in GF and would also fit Mabel better after all. All infos on the Pixiu were taken from one site, unfortunately it's a German one... While the english wiki had definetly more information than the German one, it didn't really explain the different appearances. I can't really gurantee everything is correct, but apparently there are many different nuances with the Pixiu, like if they're young or older and if they're based on earth or sea. If anyone wants to know more, I wouldn't mind discussing it ;)
> 
> And that's it for this year! Hope you all have wonderful start into 2017 and I'll see you there ;) If you want to talk to me this year or the next, you can always check my tumblr (http://mitzuna.tumblr.com)  
> On a more somber note, I have definetly some one-shots planned next year, but due to me starting my master's thesis and seeing how that already consumes a lot of my time, I'm not too sure I can stick to it. The next planned one is on Valentine's Day, but that would be a standalone one-shot, nothing in this AU. I'm not too sure yet, cause it most likely will be a rather long one...

**Author's Note:**

> See you for part 2 on New Years!


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